Father's Day
by Bria
Summary: "Happy Father's Day, Doctor. The first of many." The Doctor's first Father's Day in Pete's World.


Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.

 **A/N:** I started this story last August but never finished it. I decided it was time to do that for the holiday and in memory of my father. The story idea is based off a youtube video of a father climbing into his daughter's crib with similar results.

* * *

 **Father's Day**

Though the Doctor wouldn't have wanted to admit it to anybody, he was just about at his wit's end. His first weekend alone with his daughter since she'd been born eleven months ago, and not only was he exhausted, but Alli would not go to sleep.

The night before had gone alright. Rose had left in the afternoon and after she had kissed them both goodbye, he had worked on some TARDIS upkeep while his daughter played in her playpen nearby and then taken her for a long walk in the park after dinner. After speaking to his wife on the phone in the evening and holding it to Alli's ear for a goodnight from her mother, the baby had dropped off to sleep a few minutes after he had placed her in her crib and sang her favorite lullaby from his home world.

Tonight he was not so lucky. He had spent the day with his daughter and her uncle Tony at the London Zoo and while he could feel the baby was tired, she would not give in. She had her mother's stubbornness in her, she did.

He had already put her to bed twice and sang to her each time, but he had been barely gone for a minute before she started crying again.

Returning to her room, the Doctor picked up his daughter and held her against his chest. "Come on, Alli-bear, aren't you ready to sleep now?"

She had only just started talking and while up to then she hadn't spoken since he'd put her to bed the first time, she now cried out "Mama," several times.

"Oh sweetheart," he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, "I miss her too. So much."

Alli calmed down as he rocked her in his arms but the moment he set her back down in her crib she started to fuss once more.

While Rose was insistent that Alli had to learn to sleep at night without mental comforting from one or both of them (she didn't want it to become a crutch for their daughter), he was desperate. He touched his daughter's mind and wrapped her in a soothing embrace. Alli's eyes slowly closed and he sighed thankfully. He settled the baby in her crib and put her teddy in her arms and closed the door quietly.

He had just climbed under the covers of his bed and closed his eyes when Alli's cries once again pierced the night.

With a groan the Doctor got back up and trudged to her room, the next door over. Alli was standing up once more in her crib, her face red and tears in her eyes. A thought occurred to him and he approached the crib. He was about to turn to his time ship for help but decided against it. He could, no, he would, do this on his own. He was fully capable, he told himself with determination.

He climbed into Alli's crib as she watched closely. His legs didn't really fit but he bent them at the knee behind his body and he was able lay down, albeit a bit uncomfortably. Once he was settled in, she immediately came over to him and lay down against him with her head on his chest. He stroked his little girl's hair and after a few moments of fussing she was asleep once more.

The Doctor watched her as he waited for any sign of her waking up again. After ten minutes of quiet he was satisfied she was finally and totally out of it. Now it was time for him to do the same. He tried to get up gingerly but the slightest movement seemed to rouse Alli from her sleep and he immediately settled back down. Clearly, he either stayed here, or it was unlikely either of them were going to get any sleep.

He felt the TARDIS in his mind, offering to help, but he pointedly ignored her and he suddenly felt a spark of annoyance. "I can do this," he muttered his breath.

Suddenly the other Tardis in his life, their black cat with the ice blue eyes, jumped into the crib and settled on his feet. Great. Tardis had made him a cat fan once more, from the moment Rose introduced her to him, but she always ended up putting his feet to sleep if she rested on them for too long. Now his ship was mad at him and if he dared to get up he would annoy the cat as well and wake his daughter. So much for his brilliant plan.

With a sigh of surrender, he closed his eyes and did some deep breathing to help himself relax before finally falling asleep.

* * *

It was half four in the morning as Rose Tyler approached the 'garden shed' behind her parent's mansion and twisted the handle to enter the TARDIS. Tired but happy after returning from Tosh's hen party in Cardiff, she was anxious to see her husband and daughter.

A soft hum of welcome fluttered into her mind and she caressed the wall of the console room lovingly. "How are they, girl?" she asked the time ship. Something akin to amusement was her reply.

Deciding to check on Alli first, she approached their baby's room. Upon opening the door Rose found quite the surprise. Lying in the crib was not just her daughter but also the Doctor and Tardis. The Doctor's legs were bent at the knees and crammed into the crib at an awkward angle. With his lanky frame there was no way that could be very comfortable. Alli was spread across him with her head resting on his chest. Last but not least, Tardis was asleep across his feet.

Rose suddenly understood the time ship's amusement. Why in the world had the Doctor not just asked the TARDIS to make the crib bigger? Not wanting to disturb any of them, she lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "A little help here?" she requested softly.

The crib expanded and she quietly climbed in beside the Doctor. As Alli was spread across the Doctor on his left side she curled up on his right. Once she had slid in next to him she pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder and his eyes fluttered open.

"You're home early," he said around a yawn.

"Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise. I wasn't going to stay away a minute more than I had to on your first Father's Day with Alli."

The Doctor looked down at their daughter, a grin lighting up his face. "Oh?"

"Of course," Rose replied as she leaned in for a kiss, careful not to disturb their little one. Once she pulled away she looked at him, curious. "What exactly went on in here?"

"Alli wouldn't go to sleep, so I finally, ah, joined her."

"Why didn't you have the TARDIS make the crib bigger?"

"Errr," the Doctor began and even in the dim light from the glowing stars on the wall of the room, she could see his blush. "I wanted to do it on my own." The last part came out mumbled.

Rose knew there was more to it than that. "There's no shame in needing a little help, Doctor."

He shook his head. "But your mother…" he trailed off.

Rose looked at him, confused. "What about mum?"

"She seemed to think I couldn't manage two nights on my own, and you said the TARDIS would help me if need be."

Everything clicked in Rose's head. He'd overhead her conversation with Jackie from the night before she left.

"Oh love, I just brought up the TARDIS to placate her." Rose reached down and entwined her hand with his. "She was being a protective grandmother. You should've heard her the first time I watched Tony overnight. Seemed to think I'd call her the minute the she and Pete left the driveway. Mum knows you're a wonderful daddy. She wouldn't have let you take Tony with you if she had any doubts, she would've gone along herself."

The Doctor seemed to mull that over and then looked at her, sheepish. "Oh."

"And you know what?"

"What?"

"Mum is right. You _are_ a wonderful father. Our children are lucky to have you."

The Doctor hummed happily and squeezed her hand. A moment later her statement finally sunk in.

"We're having another baby?!" he asked loudly.

The hushed tones of their conversation interrupted by her father's gasp, Alli finally awoke and saw her mother. Her face broke into a smile and she crawled over the Doctor and into her mother's arms.

Rose gathered her daughter close and sat up with a nod. "I am," she confirmed as she kissed Alli's head and then looked up at him.

"Happy Father's Day, Doctor. The first of many. Had a physical on Thursday and Martha ran blood and hormone tests. I got the results a few hours later. I would've told you right away but decided to wait for today instead."

The Doctor's grin now spread from ear to ear as he sat up (much to Tardis the cat's annoyance as she shot off his feet with a grumpy mewl of protest) and gathered her and Alli in his arms. "That's brilliant."

Rose hugged him back tightly, though careful not to squash their daughter. "See Doctor, this is how it's supposed to be. The woman telling the man and not the other way around," she teased around a tongue touched grin.

The Doctor chuckled. "Wellll," he drawled, "you were surprised and now you've surprised me. I'd say we're even."

"Yeah," Rose agreed, as she yawned, the exhaustion of the previous night and the drive home demanding some rest. "Now let's get some more sleep."

Rose laid Alli back down and their little girl curled into her teddy, asleep once more. She reached for the Doctor's hand and together they climbed out of the crib and exited their daughter's room.

"One more surprise, Doctor," she said around another yawn as they entered their own bedroom. "I had the TARDIS run a gender test… we're having a little boy."

As they lay down in their bed, the Doctor reached for her temple and she felt the familiar warmth of his mind touch her own as he closed his eyes. With their daughter, he had first felt Alli's consciousness, and known Rose was pregnant at about two weeks (she had felt her herself a few days later). Based on the blood test Martha ran and his schedule lately, she knew she was just days along so it wouldn't be long before they felt it. The Doctor's tongue pressed against the back of his teeth and when he opened his eyes there were tears in them. "Fantastic."

The last thing Rose heard and felt as she drifted off to sleep was a gentle kiss and "thank you," whispered against her lips.

 _the end_


End file.
